This week’s article in the Portland Phoenix by Leischen Stelter previews some of the plans in the works for Maine Beer Week.
You might want to tell your boss now that you’ll probably have some foggy mornings in mid-November, but only because you’re supporting local business. November 10 to 17 is set to be the first-ever Maine Beer Week, where craft brewers from around the state will be teaming with local restaurants to showcase their best brews.
The What Ales You column in today’s Press Herald reports on Rising Tide Brewing’s new black ale called Atlantis.
“This differs quite a bit from the black IPAs that are coming out,” said owner and head brewer Nathan Sanborn. “There is quite a bit of hops, but it’s not that bitter. We added a little bit of cherry wood-smoked malt, but it’s not a strongly smoked beer. It just adds a little bit of character with it.”
GoBerry, a frozen yogurt shop, opened for business Wednesday. The business is located on Fore Street across from Gritty’s. GoBerry also has 2 locations in Western, Mass.
The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald reports on the challenges independent poultry farmers face in getting their birds processed.
Yeah, we could build a garage and slap something in there, but that’s really not doing it right,” Steve Hoad said. “We estimated it would take $39,000 to $55,000 to build a facility that would be reasonable and we could keep clean. Then you would also have the issue of labor.”
The Hoads ended up going to a state-inspected facility in Monmouth. When that closed earlier this year, they started taking their birds to Weston’s in West Gardiner, which is now the only poultry processing facility in the state that has on-site state inspectors.
According to a tweet from Uke Mochi at Edible Obsessions, Rob Evans, chef/owner of Hugo’s, won last night’s episode of Chopped on the Food Network.
Visit the website BadMoonOwl for a play by play of the episode.
Organizers of the campaign to allow food trucks in Portland have set up a Facebook page. There’s a growing collection of links to news articles on the issue and a survey to gauge public opinion on whether food trucks should be allowed to use street parking.
If you’re a fan of food trucks and want to see them come to Portland “like” the Bring Food Trucks to Portland profile to show your support.
Rabelais has announced plans to move their bookstore to Biddeford early next year. Biddeford’s gain will be a real loss to the Portland food scene.
Here are details from the Rabelais email newsletter:
Change is afoot. If you’ve been in the store any time in the last year or two you have noticed all the boxes cluttering the store. Rabelais’ collection of Antiquarian Books has increased at a pace that has outgrown our current space. So in the New Year Rabelais will be moving to a larger space. We are so excited about our new location. It has been all we can do to keep it a secret this long. Rabelais’ new home will be a loft in the North Dam Mills in Biddeford. Our new digs will accompany a slight change in the ways of Rabelais. The focus of the business will shift predominantly to rare books, imports, and really special American releases. We’ll finally have enough shelf space for most of our books, and we will be building a test kitchen in which to cook from the tens of thousands of recipes in our collection. As soon as we have made some progress on the new space, pictures will go up on the blog/website. Fear not! We will be at 86 Middle Street through the holidays and a bit beyond, so we hope to be your source for holiday gifts again this year.
See Vrai-lean-uh for her perspective on the move.
For additional reporting see the Press Herald and the Portland Daily Sun.
The Golden Dish has published a review of DiMillo’s.
On to the main course, I chose the mixed seafood broil—haddock, scallops, and Gulf shrimp. The scallops were as chewy as gum balls. The haddock was overcooked and the iodinated shrimp probably came flash frozen from Gulf waters since it’s nearly impossible to get fresh specimens anywhere in Maine unless our own variety is in season. The accompaniment of spinach with cheese sauce tasted like it came from the Bird’s Eye freezer pouch.
Tuesday — Rob Evans, chef/owner of Hugo’s, will be appearing in an episode of Chopped on the Food Network.
Wednesday — the Signature Chef Auction, a benefit for the March of Dimes, is being held at DiMillos, and the Monument Square Farmers Market is taking place.
Thursday — Win Watson, professor of Zoology at UNH, will be giving a lecture on The Secret Life of Lobsters at GMRI, the South Portland Farmers Market is taking place in the afternoon,there will be a wine tasting at Aurora Provisions, and The Great Lost Bear will be showcasing Oxbow Brewing.
Friday — it’s the first day of CaskFest at Novare Res (30+ cask beers), and there will be a wine tasting at Rosemont on Brighton.
Saturday — it’s the second day of CaskFest at Novare Res, and the Deering Oaks Farmers Market is taking place.
Farms & Fables — performances of the play Farms & Fables are taking place October 28, 29 and 30 (with a preview performance on October 27) at Camp Ketcha in Scarborough on Blackpoint Rd. You can read more about F&F on farmsandfables.blogspot.com or by calling (207) 200-6982. Tickets are $15 per person.
For more information on these and other upcoming food happenings in the area, visit the event calendar.
If you are holding a food event this week that’s not listed above, publicize it by adding it as a comment to this post.
The Saturday Portland Daily Sun included a report on the issues that forced a Cultivating Community farm stand off the sidewalk in front of Local 188.
When a farm stand in front of Local 188 disappeared this week, a sandwich board directed customers to the parking lot behind the Congress Street restaurant.
Why move a popular streetside farm stand into a little-used, little-seen parking lot? City permitting, operators of the stand said.